Ukraine hits Russia’s Krasnodar Krai port, Orenburg gas plant, Adygea airfield, military says
Editor's note: This story was updated with a comment from a source at the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and a report from the General Staff.
Ukrainian forces struck multiple targets inside Russia overnight Dec. 24-25, hitting oil refining facility, a port, and a military airfield, the Ukrainian General Staff and a source from the the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said.
Russia's Defense Ministry said 141 drones attacked Russia overnight on Dec. 25 and that seven were intercepted over Krasnodar Krai.
Drones from the "Alpha" Special Operations Center of the SBU hit the Temryuk Seaport in Krasnodar Krai and a gas processing plant in Orenburg Oblast overnight on Dec. 25, the agency source confirmed to the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine's General Staff confirmed the strike on the seaport in Temryuk.
The drone attack sparked fires in two oil storage tanks overnight on Dec. 25, the regional emergency headquarters said, a development later confirmed to the Kyiv Independent by the source.
The port fire spread across 2,000 square meters, with 70 personnel involved in extinguishing it, the regional emergency headquarters said.
No casualties were reported among port staff or other personnel.
The Temryuk port is a key Russian facility in the Sea of Azov, operating an oil export terminal and a large liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) facility.
Krasnodar Krai, which borders Russian-occupied Crimea and is located along the Azov and Black Seas, has been a frequent target of Ukrainian attacks due to its role in supplying Russian forces as well.
Another Ukrainian drone strike targeted the Orenburg gas processing plant, the world's largest gas chemical complex, which processes 37.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually, the source told the Kyiv Independent.
Fires broke out at the facility following the attack, according to FIRMS, an international satellite fire monitoring service.
The strike also triggered a gas fire in the pipeline of the 3U-70 unit, which purifies raw gas from hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. As a result, the plant's operations were partially suspended, the source added.
Although Russia's Orenburg Oblast lies roughly 800 kilometers (about 500 miles) from the Ukrainian border, its industrial infrastructure, vital to the Russian military and economy, is regularly targeted by Ukrainian long-range drones.
Ukrainian forces targeted a military airfield in Maykop, in Russia's Republic of Adygea, as well, the General Staff said. The strike ignited a fire at the site, while other effects of the attack were still being assessed.
In addition, Ukrainian strike drone units hit a repair unit of the 143rd Motorized Rifle Regiment near the village of Truzhenka in the Russian-occupied part of Donetsk Oblast, the General Staff said.
On Dec. 22, Ukrainian drones struck the Tamanneftegaz oil terminal in the village of Volna, located in Krasnodar Krai's Temryuk District.
The attack damaged a pipeline, two berths, and two ships, with the resulting fire spreading over an area of more than 1,000 square meters, according to the General Staff.
The incident came just two weeks after a Ukrainian drone strike on Krasnodar Krai's Temryuk port sparked a massive three-day fire at a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, underscoring a continuing pattern of attacks on the region's energy infrastructure.
